Blackmailer sentenced to six years in prison for sharing images of victims

A three-year investigation into malicious attempts to extort money from victims using their stolen intimate images, has culminated in the perpetrator being sentenced to six years in prison.

In September 2020, 26-year-old Connor Hyland of Sheldon Road, Buxton at the time, hacked the social media accounts of two people, a girl and a woman, and working with a 15-year-old who cannot be named due to their age, blackmailed them and those closest to them.

One victim’s account was used to ask friends for money. When challenged over the out-of-character request, the pair sent their friend’s intimate images of the victim and threatened to send them onto more contacts if they didn’t pay them.

The other victim received a text message from their partner asking why their location on social media appeared to be in the north of England. When the boyfriend contacted their partner’s Snapchat account, they received intimate images of both of them stolen from the victim and received demands for money from the blackmailers.

When no money was paid, the blackmailers posted the images in a WhatsApp group including the victim’s families, among them a 12-year-old child. They also found bank details of the victim’s friend and made £120 in mobile phone top-ups before messaging them to gloat about their fraud.

Neither victim knew Hyland or each other. In messages to the victims, the pair cruelly told them this was “nothing personal, just business”. None of the victims paid the ransoms Hyland issued.

After more than a year of investigation and complex enquiries to identify the devices the pair used, Hyland and the 15-year-old were identified and a warrant was carried out at the address of the teenager. They pleaded guilty in this case in a youth court.

At this stage Hyland was imprisoned for a separate offence, and refused to be interviewed in connection the incidents.

He pleaded guilty to of two counts of blackmail, two counts of unauthorised access to a computer, and fraud by false representation. He was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday 29 November at Basildon Crown Court.

He has also received restraining orders preventing him attempting to contact any of the victims in the future.

Detective Sergeant Ed Massey said:

“Connor Hyland violated the privacy of his victims and sought to humiliate them for financial gain. I would like to praise everyone he contacted fraudulently for remaining calm and contacting the police so quickly.
“Hyland will now spend a considerable time behind bars. We are glad the judge made this lengthy sentence as a proportional response to the impact his actions have had on his victims and their families.
“Messages Hyland and his co-defendant sent clearly show their intent and disregard for those whose images they had stolen. They openly admit to committing blackmail and try to goad their victims into paying ransoms.
“No one should be subject to crimes like these. This case is a timely reminder to ensure your devices and social media accounts are as secure as they can be - ensuring you have two-step verification or multi-factor authentication enabled in security settings - and that we all take the appropriate steps to protect our data and passwords.”

Blackmail, extortion and sextortion

Blackmail using intimate images of victims is often referred to a ‘sextortion’. This may be to extort money or to force the victim to do something against their will. Photos or recordings are often stolen or made without the victim realising or consenting.

Criminals often target people through dating apps, social media, webcams or pornography sites. They may use a fake identity to befriend you online and trick you into sending them intimate images of yourself then threaten to send these images to your family and friends.

What to do if you've been targeted

• Don’t panic, help and support is available.
• Don’t pay.
• Save the evidence: Take screenshots. Save messages and images. Collect URL links to where the information is being shared online.
• Report it to social media companies if communication happened on these channels. For example, Facebook or Instagram.
• Report it to your internet service provider.
• Block all communication with the person targeting you.
• Most social media sites have rules against sharing intimate content without consent. You should be able to get the material removed.

Report it

We understand that it might be difficult to report this type of crime to us. Our officers are here to listen and to support you in any way we can.

You can report intimate image abuse to us:

• online
• by calling 101
• if you have a hearing or speech impairment, use our textphone service on 18001 101.

Ways to protect yourself from hackers

• Use strong passwords. Make your passwords as difficult to guess as possible.
• Use Two Factor Authentication (2FA). This provides an extra security check when logging into online accounts.
• Keep your software up to date. This can prevent hackers exploiting security issues found in applications.
• Use a firewall. Firewalls protect one computer network from another by only allowing certain communications. Most computers with Windows or Mac OS come with a software firewall installed. Make sure it is on.

Action Fraud

If you’ve been the victim of a scam, fraud or online crime (cybercrime) you can report it to Action Fraud:

• online
• on 0300 123 2040 (Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm).

Action Fraud is the national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. It collects reports about fraud on behalf of the police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. For fraud in Scotland please report it directly to Police Scotland.